Thursday, March 8, 2012

a birth story {crew}

Crew's birth story

It all started Wednesday evening February 29th 2012 when I started having constant contractions for about three hours. I decided to try to relax and just go to sleep. They subsided that evening, but I had a few throughout the night, but nothing constant. Throughout the day on March 1st, 2012 I was in so much pain when I would walk. I knew things were happening and birth was near. At the end of the day after I picked up Grayson we went home and than that is when everything started to change. I got really sick...like pucking sick on top of strong painful contractions that would not go away. So after resting and changing positions for over an hour we decided that we should go to the hospital to get checked out. It was just weird I got sick on top of having contractions. Our friend Kim came to the hospital and picked up Grayson. Grayson slept over at their house and Kim took Grayson to his school on Friday morning. Once I got settled in the labor and delivery room they did the normal vital checks and did a vaginal check to see if I was dilated. I was a stretchy 2 as stated by the nurse. The nurse felt like I was in labor and would more than likely have the baby. However once I saw the doctor it was a different story. Dr H felt that I needed to progress more before they would admit me. So Chad and I began the walking up and down the hallway. I will have to save it hurt the entire time I would walk. After several hours and two more vaginal checks I had made no progress so Chad and I decided at about 11:30PM that we would just go home and see what happens. I was extremely tired and hungry. We got home around 12:30AM and I took some water to our room and pretzels and rested. I fell asleep for about two hours when once again painful contractions woke me up. These contractions were intense and lasted for about one minute and were coming every three minutes. I stayed home for about two hours with these contractions, I didn't want to go back up to the hospital and get sent back home.

So at 5AM on Friday March 2nd, 2012 we went back up to the hospital. I got settled in the room again and Dr H once again checked me and I was dilated to 3 cm. So they decided to keep me and see how I progressed. Meanwhile I had a shift change and a new doctor. Dr P came in and talked to me about what was going on. He said what if I sent you home?? I said I wanted to do what was best for me and the baby and I would be fine, but since my first delivery with Grayson was induced I didn't experience too many painful contractions so in my eyes the contractions were PAINFUL and something I could not bare at all. After our discussion Dr. P to a vaginal check and I progressed to a 4 1/2 cm and he felt that I was in true labor. I was admitted and it all became real we were having CREW on March 2nd, 2012. They started my IV and antibiotics and I settled in for a full day of contractions as he wanted me to progress on my own without giving me Pitocin to induce labor. He didn't want to go down that road as I was only 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant. By 11AM I was 5 cm dilated and it was decided that they would break my water after lunch so I decided it was time to get my epidural. At about 11:30AM I got my epidural and everything was going great. I wasn't feeling much pain at all. Since I had gestational diabetes they would check my sugar levels off and on and at 12:30PM they checked my sugar level at it was at a 61.

At 1PM things changed in the room...

I passed out it was scary for everyone in the room. The only thing I remember is telling my nurse that I felt like I was going to get sick and the next thing I remember is Chad standing over my face trying to wake me up. I had oxygen on me I was very hot and there were several nurses and my doctor in the room. The tone changed and everyone was very concerned on why would this happen. They gave me fluid that has some sugar in it and my sugar level increased to 89 and the coloring in my face improved. Dr P ordered a EKG and requested that I try to nap before they moved forward to breaking my water. I had the EKG and the results stated that they could not rule out that I didn't have a heart attack. It was all scary, but our main concern and focus was to get Crew delivered before it happened again. At about 2:30PM Dr P broke my water and I continued to be checked every hour to see if I made any progress and my sugar levels were checked as well. The doctor did not want my sugar levels to drop again that low so every hour I was poked with a needle. Chad, Mary, and Greg kept me company until it was go time! The last several hours of labor I could feel pain of pressure and this was Crew's head moving down in the birth canal because at 6:15PM the nurse checked me and I was completely at 10 cm dilated and she could feel Crew's head. It was GO time!

She went out in the hallway called the doctor and we got ready in the room.

Chad and Mary stayed in the room during delivery. At 6:20PM I started pushing and after just a handful of pushes and coaching from Dr P Crew Winton was born at 6:32PM. It was a wonderful and easy delivery for me after the events that happened all day. Crew's actual pushing delivery was a lot easier on me than Grayson's delivery. Crew was taken by the nurse to get cleaned up, weighed, and footprints etc. before I got to hold him. But shortly after delivery Crew was taken to the nursery to be accessed. He was grunting more than crying and they wanted to get him good and clean and get all the icky stuff out of his lungs. Crew was able to come back to my room for a short time, but was sent back again for the abnormal vital checks. During this time I was moved to a different room. Once I got settled in the room they performed another EKG and it still stated that they could not rule out that I did not have a heart attack so I was seen by a heart doctor that evening and was hooked up to a telemetry and monitored for 24 hours. In the end I was released with no issues with my heart and they really think that the low sugar levels had a lot to do with my passing out incident. Crew was a different story that same night of delivery Crew he had several problems and was admitted to the NICU.

I have decided to end the birth story here and will share Crew's story in another post.

We are so happy to welcome Crew to our family he is a delight and looks so much like his big brother Grayson.